Swampman 100 Bike Tour (Macclenney, Florida)

Saturday 18 September 2010

I rode in the Swampman 100 mile bike ride today in Macclenney, Florida (west of Jacksonville). This is my ride report. Arrived at the YMCA in Macclenney to find several hundred enthusiastic bikers of all ages and appearances getting prepared to take on the day. The packet pickup was a breeze and consisted of a paper bag (think lunch sack) with a shirt rolled up inside. Simple is better right? There was a healthily line for the bathroom on the mens side of the house and with only one sit down toilet that was an issue. Fortunately I was in need of #1 only. There was no waiting at the community pool next door which you should consider if you do this event. They had bagels and fruit, coffee etc on hand as well.
At right about 8 AM (too late to start IMO) they told everyone to mount up and make their way out to the roadway for the starting horn. This is not a race but a ride but you wouldn't have known this given the enthusiasm of the bikers as they flocked to get up near the front. A few instructions followed concerning how to interpret the markings on the road. I will repeat them here in the event you have found this post in hopes of gaining info about this event for future consideration. The markings at intersections or turns consisted of a circle with a line branching off of it at the prescribed angle of movement (i.e. a right turn would be a circle with a line at 90 degrees). For those doing the century there was a 100A route which was to be taken first and then a 100B that followed after 100A was completed. This became a fairly simple situation to interpret after you had seen several of them.
The course was just as advertised: flat, scenic, and not much traffic. Everyone went out as a crowd and stayed together for the first 5 miles or so. The spread began from there